Essential PH-1 Now Receiving September 2017 Security Patch

Andy Rubin’s startup company, Essential, has started rolling out the September 2017 security patch to its Essential PH-1 smartphone. This update includes several bug fixes and bumps up the build version to NMI64C, though its Android version remains unchanged, Android 7.1.1 Nougat will remain installed on it after you update. It is also currently unknown when, and if, will the Essential PH-1 get the Android 8.0 Oreo update, as Essential has yet to offer any hint on such a release.

Nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that the Essential PH-1 is amongst the first batch of smartphones that have been receiving the September 2017 security patch, along with the Google Pixel, Pixel XL, and eligible Nexus phones earlier this week based on some user reports. Last week, it was also reported that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 has started receiving a new software package via an over-the-air (OTA) update that includes the September Android security patch and a bevy of improvements for the smartphone’s camera performance. The staged rollout of the update comes prior to the official release of the phablet to store shelves on September 15. More importantly, the September 2017 security patch comes as a bit of a surprise since Google recently announced via a security bulletin that the September 2017 security patch would be included in the Android 8.0 Oreo update instead of being rolled out to eligible devices as a standalone OTA update.

The Mountain View, California-based search giant officially unveiled details of the September 2017 Android security patch last week, adding that the update was set to hit first the Pixel phones, Nexus Player, Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P, and the Pixel C tablet as part of Android 8.0 Oreo upgrade. However, the announcement did not include factory images for the update, which marks the first time that Google excluded such images from its security bulletin, at least for now. The software package has a total file size of 175MB, which you can download by going to your phone’s Settings page and then proceeding to the About phone section then to the System updates option. On top of bug fixes, this update is also expected to deliver a plethora of performance improvements to eligible devices.